IUCN threat status:

Habitat

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology

Cedrus deodara is a high mountain tree, but it occurs in a wide range of habitats in the Himalaya. It grows in a belt at elevations between 17,00 m and 3,000 m a.s.l. in the western part of its range and between 1,300 m and 3,300 m in the eastern part, where the climate is less dry. It grows on a variety of alpine lithosols. The climate is moist monsoon, but the increasing moisture in the E Himalayas is a limiting factor; towards the west it becomes moderately dry, with annual precipitation less than 750 mm in the most western part of its range. At higher elevations it forms a coniferous forest belt with, among other species, Abies pindrow, A. spectabilis in Nepal, Pinus wallichiana, Picea smithiana, and Cupressus torulosa, but forms often also pure stands. At the highest limits of Cedrus, Juniperus squamata is the only accompanying conifer species. At lower elevations first Quercus spp., then Aesculus indica, Betula sp., Corylus jaquemontii, Acer spp., Prunusspp. and shrubs mark the transition towards a broad-leaved forest.